“All my affairs will be made known to you by Tychicus, the beloved brother, faithful servant, and fellow bondservant in the Lord.”

What trust the Apostle Paul is able to have in the Christian believers in Colosse! Could this be true of a local church in our day? Are we able to have the confidence in each other that we judge kindly and positively and are open and sincere?

The Apostle had an open account with the Christians churches in his day and could be trusted by everyone to do and say the right thing. He was such a man of God and so faithful to the heavenly vision and the Word  of God. His wisdom was peerless and he had an answer for everyone. This is because he also kept short accounts with the Lord and kept his life daily perfect before God. Every sin was confessed and expunged and so his life was holy. He could tell the Christians to be like him, because he was like Christ. 

“Be imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ.”

1 Corinthians 11:1

The attitude and life of Paul was open to the scrutiny of others and he was able to live this life by the power of God. The same Spirit of God dwells in every Christian, so why is there such falling away and apostasy in our days? We have lost the attitude of godliness and excuse our sin and do not seek the perfect life of God. We excuse ourselves by saying that Paul was special, but he was saved in the same way as everyone else and is just a son of the kingdom like everyone else too. The search of holiness will lead us in the way of Paul and of Christ. 

Paul was obviously keen that the other brothers in Christ should report about what he was doing in the other churches and continued his life as a living testimony to the grace of God. Paul did not hide from people, but freely conversed and wrote to them many letters of teaching, encouragement and news about what he was doing. His accountability was universal, and every Christian could know about what he did. His letters were to the churches and were read to the churches so that everyone could see and be clear about what Paul thought and did. 

Paul’s witnesses were also solid and reliable people. He calls Tychicus his beloved brother, faithful servant and fellow bondservant in the Lord. Paul had many who lived and worked like this, a far cry from the celebrity preachers and pastors we have nowadays. The work these men of God did was sacrificial, hard and cost them their lives in the end. They relied on the love of God rather than the acclaim of men and on the faithfulness of the Lord rather than the fickleness of the human heart. They did not play to the gallery, but were honest and sincere and took the place of humility rather than fame and fortune. 

What would happen if we were to live like that today? Perhaps we instinctively know that it would not necessarily go well with us. Look what happened to the Christians in the early church and to our Lord Jesus Christ…

Beloved, let us put on courage and faith as we step out and step up for God. May we live our lives in holiness and honesty before the people God has put around us and make ourselves as the example of our dear brother, Paul and our Saviour JESUS.